The bus trip from hell

I exaggerate. While it was the worst bus trip to date, I can imagine how it could have been much worse. I'll list these out in a minute.

So here are the logistics - a 36 hr bus trip from Bamako to Kumasi, 3 countries, two border crossings, many police checks, no airconditioning, no leg room, a sensitive nose.

No airconditioning does not faze me. It was the fact that the bus was designed for airconditioning and hence had no windows. They opened the hatch on top of the bus to let some fresh air in but this only did so much for the smell.

Ah the smell. At the first pitstop everyone bought meat for breakfast. 6 hours into the trip the bus stank of animal fat and onions. 8 hours later - body odour was added to the mix. Bananas for snacks added a sticky sweetness but the skins on the bus floor added nothing more than plain old rot to this thick concoction. A concoction - a dirty dirty concoction is exactly what I felt I was breathing in everytime the bus stopped at a police check. Regular doses of meat and bananas were thrown in lest the fresh air ruined it.

Ways it could have been worse:
1. It drizzles a couple of times when we had to close the hatch for a few minutes. I scared myself silly thinking of the possibility of it raining the whole way. It didn't. Bonus

2. My seat was close to the hatch.

3. The guy sitting next to me (though he stank of BO from hour 1) got off 18 hrs in at Ougadougou. He could have been there the whole way and he didn't look like pulling out a can of deo anytime soon.

4. A diet of rice and sauce has reduced it to an average of once in 4 days. It had been 3 days already and the pizza the night before was starting to cause trouble. Luckily it held up.